Rail-anchor.



' L. C.FERGU1S0N. RAIL ANCHOR.

APPLICATIQN FILED MAR.. 26| 19|?.

v Patented July 24, 1917.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.- i

LEE o. FERGUSON, `OE MARION, INDIANA, AssIGNoE To POSITIVE EAIL'ANOHOE COMPANY, OE MARION, INDIANA, A CORPORATION.

RAIL-ANCHOR.

Speccatiron of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 26, 1917. Serial No. 157,376.

The present invention has for its obj ect toV provide an improved construction of rail anchor, the improvements being directed more particularly to that type of`rail anchor in which a body member adapted to extend beneath the base of the rail is provided at its Opposite ends with aws to engage the base flanges of the rail and is provided at one end with an abutment adapted to bear against the side of the cross tie of the track. In this type of rail anchors, it has been found that when the abutment that depends Yfrom one end of the rail anchor is embedded in the ballast and there is any tendency of the rail to move (as in contracting and expanding) in a direction opposite that in which the rail tends to creep under the normal conditions of traffic, there is danger of the rail anchor becoming loosened and losing Its grip uponV the base flanges of the rail.

My present invention has for its obj ect to provide the rail anchor with a depending abutment of such construction that any tendency to move the anchor away from the cross tie shall have the effect of tightening the bite of the rail gripping jaws upon the base flanges of the rail. This obj ect I accomplish by forming the abutment with a wall that inclines or curves in a direction from the end of the anchor toward its center. The construction and mode of operation of my improved anchor will be understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

Figure y1 shows a plan view of a portion of a railroad rail withV my improved anchor applied thereto, a part of a cross tie being also shown. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation.

A designates the body portion of my improved anchor that is adapted to extend beneath the base of the railroad rail B, this body portion A being provided at its opposite ends with the rail gripping aws a and a adapted to engage respectively the base flanges o and o of the rail B.

At one end the body member A'is provided vvith an offset, depending abutment C adapted to'bear against the side of the cross tie D. Except as to the shape of the abutment C, the rail anchor above described is of the familiar type commonly known as the .positive rail anchor. This type of rail anchor is usually `formed as a single casting with integral jaws at its opposite ends, the

construction of the anchor being such .that

as the rail tends to creep in the direction of the large arrow, Fig. 1,. the movement yis resisted by the engagement of the abutment at one end with the cross tie, while the opposite or free end of the anchor moves slightly farther toward the cross tie. The result is that the anchor turns slightly on the abutment as a pivot and the rail gripping jaws of the anchor are caused to more tightly griilp the corresponding base flanges of the ra The abutment C is shown askcomprising a depending fiange or web the front end of which is adapted to contact with the cross tie D, while the rear portion of this flange or web tapers upwardly toward the end of the body portion A with which the web or fiange is integrally cast. The rear face or wall of the abutment C is inclined inwardly from the end of the body portion A toward the cross tie D, as indicated by the dotted line c in Fig. l of the drawing, and preferably the outer face c ofthe abutment C is correspondingly inclined or curved. My purpose in forming the abutment with its rear wall c inclined inwardly toward the cross tie is to insure that when there is any movement of the anchor away from the tie D,-as sometimes occurs with the contraction of the rail B,-the movement of the inclined depending wall of the abutment through the ballast will cause the rail gripping jaw a at the opposite end .of the anchor to more firmly bind upon the flange o of the rail. That is to say, as the abutment C (embedded in the ballast) is moved away from the tie D, the forcing of the inclined wall c of the abutment through the ballast tends'to shift the anchor laterally and at the same time swing it slightly, thereby causing the jaw a at the Opposite end of the anchor to moreY firmly engage the flange o ofthe rail and atthe same time causing the jaw a Patented July 24.', 1917',

to maintain its grip upon the rail flange o. In prior constructions of rail anchors of this type, the depending walls or' the abutments have been substantially parallel with the cross tie D, with the result that when the rail B contracted and thus tended to move the anchor A away from the cross tie D, the abutment embedded in the ballast tended merely to hold the adjacent end of the anchor while allowing the rail gripping aw a at the opposite free end o'l" the anchor to move slightly away from the tie and in so doing to release the grip of the jaws a and a upon the rail flanges. lVhen the abutment, however, has its rear wall inclined inwardly toward the cross tie, as in my present invention, such danger of the loosening of the anchor is avoided.

lVhile I have shown what I regard as the preferred form of the invention. it is obvious that the precise shape of the abutment may be modied so long as said abutment is so shaped that as the anchor is moved away from the cross tie it shall exert a thrust tending to tighten the grip of the anchor upon the rail.

{aving thus described my invention, .what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. A rail anchor adapted to extend beneath the base of the rail and having at its opposite ends jaws to grip the base flanges of the rail, and an abutment to engage one of the cross ties of the rail, said abutment being shaped to impart a lateral movement to the anchor as it is moved away from the cross tie and through the ballast.

2. A rail anchor adapted to extend beneath the base of the rail and provided at its opposite ends with means to grip the base iianges of the rail and with a downwardly extending abutment to engage one of the cross ties of the rail, said abutment having its rear wall so inclined inwardly toward said crossrtie as to impart a lateral thrust to the anchor as it is moved away from the cross tie and through the ballast.

` LEE C. FERGUSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

